CMAD Architects was tasked with designing a fully functional space for the Eastern Greater Bay Area Experimental School located in Shenzhen, China.

Located in Pingshan District, the Project is surrounded by an urban village to the south as an experimental school for nine-year compulsory education with 45 classes. The floor area ratio of the project is 3.0, higher than the requirements for general campus buildings. And the Project is designed to re-build that bond despite the extreme shortage of land and high floor area ratio. What the campus should perhaps make up for most as an adapted vessel for children’s growth is – nature.

Build a “More Accessible and User-friendly Pastoral Campus” is the answer to the nature by architectural design. The setback design creates a dynamic feeling, meeting the requirements for building designs under the extreme shortage of land in Shenzhen. By stacking building modules and gardens, the campus provides children with sufficient venues for activities within a limited land area. The high floor area ratio creates a colorful pastoral space, enabling children to study and grow freely and happily.

The campus is designed in a way that encourages comprehensive utilization of roof spaces. To handle the height differences, the step-like setbacks of the campus buildings produces terraced roof spaces.

The “stacked” setbacks conform to the height difference. The south side of the project site is higher than the north side. For this reason, the campus takes the shape of layered terraces to conform to the terrain, and at the same time creates a more interesting roof form.

“Gardens”，an extremely balance between nature and spaces. By building interesting spaces on the roofs, we employed “idyllic” roof and ramp systems of the “book mountains” to build a pastoral campus full of vitality. This not only responds to the shortage of land, but also respects the natural scenery of the original landform of the site.

This sort of campus represents a return to the nature and highlights the maximized utilization of the limited land area. This restructuring of campus spaces has fulfilled the original purpose of the Eastern Bay Area Experimental School to build a beautiful space for students, and to grant children an idyllic place to grow up amid the concrete jungles in the city.

Design: CMAD Architects
Design Team: Wang Yu, Li Tao, He Ling, Zhang Yawen, Zhao Yaqing, Chen Guojun, Yan Jianchun, Zhang Peng, Lu Hongyong, Liu Yu, Bu Wangyang, Liu Wentao, Li Hanning, Jiang Changwu, Du Jianwei, Li Qingchao, Shang Shuangshuang
General Architect: Zou Xiuhong
Chief Architect: Chen Zhuo
Technical Director: Chen Guodong
Photography: Baiyu